


Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

by hazelNuts



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Fluff, M/M, POV Alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-12 07:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelNuts/pseuds/hazelNuts
Summary: Alec helps his neighbour decorate his apartment, and he's not the only with slightly ulterior motives than simply spreading the Christmas cheer.Alec likes Christmas just fine. He’s not the Grinch his sister claims him to be. He likes spending time with his family, decorating, buying gifts. He even likes the occasional Christmas song. What he doesn’t like is the hype, the absolute frenzy people get into when buying gifts, putting so many lights up that it has to be a fire hazard; and the same, but also slightly different, songs being played on the radio, over and over again. So when his neighbour asks him if he can help decorate his apartment for the holidays, Alec surprises himself by saying yes.





	Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

**Author's Note:**

> For [amarytha](http://amarytha.tumblr.com/). Happy holidays! I hope they're amazing and have lots of fun!!
> 
> If you think I forgot any tags, please let me know in the comments.

Alec likes Christmas just fine. He’s not the Grinch his sister claims him to be. He likes spending time with his family, decorating, buying gifts. He even likes the occasional Christmas song. What he doesn’t like is the hype, the absolute frenzy people get into when buying gifts, putting so many lights up that it has to be a fire hazard; and the same, but also slightly different, songs being played on the radio, over and over again. So when his neighbour asks him if he can help decorate his apartment for the holidays, Alec surprises himself by saying yes.

Well, maybe not that much of a surprise. Magnus is nice and charismatic, and beautiful. When Alec saw him with his little niece last month, there might have been some very domestic fantasies that most people don’t have about their neighbours who they’ve only ever exchanged greetings with in the elevator.

The smile Magnus greets him with that Saturday morning, almost knocks Alec on his ass. Then Magnus looks at Alec’s shirt and the radiant smile turns into a frown.

‘What’s wrong?’ Alec asks, looking down in mild panic. He checked three times to make sure there weren’t any food or toothpaste stains on this shirt.

‘That’s not very festive attire,’ Magnus says. ‘That’s no good for decorating.’

‘What?’

Magnus waves him inside and closes the door behind him, then disappears. Alec awkwardly stays by the door, not sure what to do. He looks around Magnus’ apartment. From what he can see it’s almost twice as big as his own. There’s a much better, more open view of the river from this side of the building, and the big windows let in enough light to fill the living room. There’s already a tree set up in a corner of the room with boxes marked “Christmas deco” stacked next to it. There are a lot of boxes.

Magnus reappears and holds up a green sweater with a reindeer on it. ‘Now you fit the dress code,’ he grins.

‘There’s a dress code?’ Alec asks, tentatively taking the sweater.

‘Obviously.’ Magnus gestures at his own sweater, which is light blue with little penguins in elf hats. They match the red highlights in his hair. It’s ridiculous and Alec can’t help but smile. ‘Get changed so we can get started,’ Magnus says. ‘The bathr–‘

Alec pulls his shirt off, realizing too late that it leaves him standing half-naked in his neighbour’s living room. He quickly pulls the reindeer sweater over his head, his face feeling like it’s on fire.

‘Or you can do that,’ Magnus finishes. He blinks a couple times at where Alec’s bare chest just was, then looks back up to Alec’s face. He smiles again. ‘I knew it would match your eyes.’

Alec smiles back. ‘So, where do you need me?’

‘So many places,’ Magnus sighs. ‘But let’s start with the tree, shall we.’

Following Magnus to the stack of boxes, Alec wonders if he imagined that innuendo. He briefly wishes Jace or Izzy were here; they always pick up on those things more easily than he does. But then music starts playing from somewhere and Magnus does a little dance move that has Alec’s mouth go dry, and the wish for his siblings disappears.

Magnus doesn’t stop dancing as they decorate. Alec doesn’t now where to look at first, but then he realizes Magnus _wants_ him to look and stops trying to look anywhere else. They get the tree decorated faster than Alec would’ve thought with all those distraction, and to celebrate Magnus pulls him into his dance.

‘I don’t know how to dance,’ Alec splutters.

‘That’s okay. Just follow my lead,’ Magnus says, grabbing one of Alec’s hands and placing the other on Alec’s waist.

Alec’s heart hammers in his chest as he takes a couple hesitant steps, desperately hoping he won’t step on Magnus’ toes.

‘Relax,’ Magnus says. He loosens the tight grip Alec has on his shoulder, and traps Alec’s gaze with his own. ‘Get out of your head a little.’

Alec nods and focuses on Magnus. Magnus surrounds him, against his front, the hand on his waist, the hand that is holding his own, steering him in the right direction with the slightest pressure. He’s so close that Alec can smell his perfume, a spicy scent he wants to dive into. Whenever they pass the Christmas tree, the lights reflect the little flecks of gold in Magnus’ irises. It’s mesmerizing.

Before he knows it, they’ve gone around the room several times, and he hasn’t stepped on Magnus’ toes once.

‘Ready to try a twirl?’ Manus asks, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

Alec freezes. ‘Uhm…’

Magnus chuckles. He lets go and pats Alec on the shoulder. ‘Maybe next time.’

‘Sure.’

They stare at each other for a moment, then Alec realizes he’s staring and he quickly looks away, suggesting they should eat some lunch. After lunch, they decorate the rest of the room. Each finished section is celebrated with a little dance. As with the dancing, the innuendos continue as well, and Alec tries to give as good as he gets. When they’ve put the final string of lights in place, his nerves are nothing but a vague memory, and he can’t remember the last time he laughed that much. He even agrees to try a simple twirl as the big finale to their last dance. It’s not very graceful, but he doesn’t trip and Magnus is smiling, so he decides to call it a success.

‘Let’s see what it looks like with the lights off,’ Magnus suggests. He pulls Alec with him to the light switches and flips the main lights off.

‘Wow,’ Alec breathes.

The red and yellow lights cast a warm glow over the apartment. All the shiny surfaces, the ornaments, the tinsel, the mirrors, reflect the lights, together brightening the apartment just enough that you can go about your business. It feels so cosy that without thinking Alec throws an arm around Magnus’ shoulder. He starts to pull away when he realizes what he did, but Magnus grabs his hand and squeezes.

‘We did a great job, didn’t we?’ Magnus asks.

Alec looks down. Magnus’ skin glows in the warm light. Leaning in closer, Alec realizes it’s because there’s glitter on Magnus’ cheekbones. He smiles and swipes at it with his thumb.

‘I’m not reading this wrong, am I?’ he asks.

Magnus’ answer is a shake of his head, and a pull on Alec’s sweater that forces them closer together. The kiss is slow and sweet, and tastes like the chocolates they’ve been eating.

‘And I didn’t even need to break out the mistletoe,’ Magnus says when they break apart.

Alec frowns. ‘All this because you wanted to kiss me?’ he asks, gesturing at the apartment.

‘Well, not just kiss,’ Magnus says. He swipes a thumb over Alec’s lips. ‘Would you like to stay for dinner?’

‘Is there a dress code?’ Alec asks.

‘Would you agree to a no-dress code?’

Alec laughs and shakes his head. He presses a kiss to Magnus’ mischievous smile.

‘How about we keep the current dress code going, and we save the no-dress code for another time?’

‘All right then,’ Magnus sighs, disappointed. But his smile is soft, and Alec is torn between staring at it and kissing it.

Before the end of the night he gets a chance to do both, many times over.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://fandom-madnessess.tumblr.com/).


End file.
